Sapere Books is a digital first publisher of romantic fiction, historical fiction, women’s fiction, crime fiction and thrillers. Sapere Books launched in 2018 and specialises in reissuing novels which have gone out of print and developing relationships with both new and established writers.
A Perfect Cornish Escape – Phillipa Ashley
Avon
Wild landscapes and small communities inspire my novels. The idea for A Perfect Cornish Escape came from a visit to an isolated coastwatch station on the Cornish coast. After Marina’s husband, Nate, is lost at sea, she reopens her local station, determined that others won’t have to go through the agony she has. Marina vowed to love Nate forever but when kind-hearted Lachlan arrives in her life, should she deny herself another chance at happiness?
Sing Me a Secret – Julie Houston
Aria, Head of Zeus
I was inspired to write SING ME A SECRET after taking part in a musical production of Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar in Leeds Town Hall several years ago. In the actual book, a family secret held between four sisters is played out, and eventually revealed, while rehearsing and performing in their village’s own production of this fabulous musical. I’d loved every minute of taking part in the show, especially as we all fell in love with Jesus. And what a Jesus…
Sunny Days and Sea Breezes – Carole Matthews
Sphere, Little, Brown
I won a short story competition in Writing magazine and did the most sensible thing I’ve ever done. I spent the prize money on a writing course. The tutor told me that my work-in-progress was good enough to send to an agent. He took me on straight away and sold the book within a week which became Let’s Meet on Platform 8. I never imagined that it would launch a career that would last twenty-four years and see me write thirty-four books.
Christmas Wishes – Sue Moorcroft
Aria, Head of Zeus
When I heard a sportsman talking about battling an eating disorder I gave the issue to Nico, a Swedish man and single dad who was once a rising ice hockey star. I wanted to give him issues traditionally allotted to female characters. I gave Hannah a contrastingly easy life in Stockholm … then snatched it away and returned her to her English village.
The Two Lives of Lydia Bird – Josie Silver
Penguin
The winner will be announced on the 8th March 2021.
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“Jackie Collins was a creative force, a trailblazer for women in fiction, and, in her own words, ‘A kick-ass writer!’ Since her 1968 debut The World is Full of Married Men, her books have sold in their millions in more than 40 countries and she is one of the world’s top-selling novelists. Ian Chapman, CEO of Simon & Schuster UK and International, said “Jackie was kind, brilliantly astute, with a wicked, mischievous sense of humour. She was a consummate storyteller and made her craft look easy, like all great practitioners. I – along with many others – miss her still and often expect to see her appear suddenly in our midst. We have long made a solemn commitment to ensure that her legacy endures and are incredibly proud to partner with the Romantic Novelists’ Association again to sponsor the Jackie Collins Romantic Thriller award to support her fellow writers.”
Every author has their own unique story to tell about how and why they came to be a novelist. Read on to find out the stories behind the talented authors shortlisted for the prestigious award, as they reveal them, and the inspiration behind their lovely novels.
The Forgotten Sister – Nicola Cornick
HQ
I’ve always been fascinated by historical mysteries and I also love writing about lesser-known women from history. The two things came together in The Forgotten Sister which was inspired by the mystery of the death of Amy Robsart, wife of Queen Elizabeth I’s favourite, Robert Dudley. So often Amy’s story is eclipsed by Elizabeth and Robert’s love affair, but I wanted to bring Amy into the spotlight instead. Telling her story alongside a tale of modern day celebrity made me realise how many themes from history are still relevant now.
The House By The Sea – Louise Douglas
Boldwood Books
The inspiration for this novel was a derelict villa on a small headland in a remote corner of Sicily. We were on holiday and spotted it from the beach, climbed a sandy path to reach it. The villa was enclosed by high walls, with bougainvillea and other plants tumbling over as if they’d been imprisoned and were trying to escape. Behind rusting gates, chained together, we glimpsed a lovely, fading old house… and I fell in love.
Death Comes to Cornwall – Kate Johnson
Dash Digital, Orion
Honestly, I was trying to write a nice romantic comedy about a gorgeous actor and a girl trying to escape her hometown, and then a dead body turned up in chapter three. Which doesn’t usually happen in romcoms, so it became more of a cosy mystery. And setting it in Cornwall meant an excuse to eat pasties and drink Cornish beer. You know, for inspiration.
The Twins – J. S. Lark
HarperCollins
My writing history began with Bridgerton style bodice rippers as Jane Lark, before becoming the gripping domestic, psychological, thriller I created in The Twins. The progression to The Twins came about after watching the Dr Foster TV series. My romantic books have always had a harder, darker, edge to them. The TV series that focused heavily on the character relationships while weaving a twisty shocking story around that encouraged me to take the step into the full-on thriller space. I love creating gritty, shocking and yet passionate characters.
But the root of my writing is thanks to a teacher, who identified my exceptional story-telling capability when I was eight. She called me forward to the front of the class and told everyone that one day I would write a novel. That didn’t happen for 33 years, but now there are twenty-six novels. I am told I’m quite prolific.
Escape to the Little Chateau – Marie Laval
Choc Lit
As a teenager growing up in France I loved reading historical romance and used to make up stories before falling asleep every night. My dreams were full of sword fights, daring rescues and brave heroes and heroines battling evil villains as they fell madly in love. Picking up a pen and writing the stories down was the next, logical step, and I never looked back!
The winner will be announced on the 8th March 2021.
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Every author has their own unique story to tell about how and why they came to be a novelist. Read on to find out the stories behind the talented authors shortlisted for the prestigious award, as they reveal them, and the inspiration behind their lovely novels.
ECHOES OF THE RUNES – Christina Courtenay
Headline Review
The story was inspired by a Viking style ring I own, an exact replica of one displayed at the Historical Museum in Stockholm. When I went to the museum to compare the two, I was struck by the germ of an idea for this book. My agent just happens to be Swedish as well and she encouraged me to explore our mutual heritage, so it seemed like it was meant to be – serendipity!
The Start of Us – Hannah Emery
One More Chapter, HarperCollins
The Start of Us was inspired by the idea that small moments can change everything. The main character Erica is able to see another version of her life and decide which one she wants to live. This huge choice prompts her to explore something else that fascinates me: how love and grief often go hand in hand. Is it better to never experience pain, if you also have to forfeit love?
The Reluctant Witch – Amelia Hopegood
Independently Published
I come from a working – class background and not only read but scribbled stories throughout my childhood. I’ve still got the manuscript I wrote when I was sixteen – full of teenage angst and funny for all the wrong reasons! I concentrated on my career, but a hospital admittance made me reassess. I write Regency Romance and Paranormal Cozy Mystery and by indie-publishing I’ve been able to write full-time which overwhelmingly readers seem to enjoy!
The Cornish Connection – Amanda James
Independently Published
My inspiration came from reading, I think. But I can’t remember a time when I didn’t write, I suppose it’s in my blood. I was a voracious reader as a child – first Enid Blyton and Marguerite Henry, then in my teens, I became lost in the world of Tolkien. I loved words, stories and going off on virtual adventures. I asked for a typewriter for Christmas when I was eight, and never looked back!
Someday in Paris – Olivia Lara
Aria, Head of Zeus
The Someday in Paris manuscript was a wedding anniversary gift for my husband: a magical love story inspired by our own, set in Paris and Colmar—our favourite French towns— and centered around art, which we both love. While I hoped he’d like it, I didn’t expect his immediate, powerful, and emotional reaction while reading it, which ultimately emboldened me to follow my lifelong dream of becoming a published author.
The winner will be announced on the 8th March 2021.
Please feel free to leave a comment or like the post.
Goldsboro Books is the UK’s leading independent bookshop, specialising since 1999 in first editions, signed, collectable and exclusive books. Situated in Cecil Court in London’s West End, and – as of December 2020 – Brighton’s famous Lanes, it has gained a reputation for championing debut authors, as well as creating the UK’s largest book collectors’ club, and is influential in selling large quantities of hard-back fiction.
Every author has their own unique story to tell about how and why they came to be a novelist. Read on to find out the stories behind the talented authors shortlisted for the prestigious award, as they reveal them, and the inspiration behind their lovely novels.
Where We Belong– AnsteyHarris
Simon & Schuster
It has been a goal of mine, for a long time, to write a novel featuring someone with a learning disability whose disability doesn’t define them and whose story arc isn’t connected to that disability. Wrapping that up in a love story made it even more valuable thing to write about – love is the thing that binds us, that makes the world go round, and something we all have a right to experience.
My One True North –MillyJohnson
Simon & Schuster
I never wanted to be anything else but a novelist. Even when the sensible part of me was saying, ‘Get a proper job. Girls like you don’t become them,’ I never stopped dreaming. But such dreams need hard work behind them to come true so I gave it my all. I wanted to write books that made readers feel the way I did when reading the best ones: a willing prisoner trapped in the pages.
One Day In Summer – ShariLow
Boldwood Books
One Day In Summer was inspired by every woman I’ve ever known who put their own dreams to one side to take care of their family. The main character, Agnetha, wakes on her 40th birthday, having spent the last twenty years caring for her parents, her daughters, and the husband who left her for her best friend. It’s her time now. And Agnetha, just like all those other women, deserves another shot at life and at love.
Eudora Honeysett is Quite Well, Thank You –AnnieLyons
One More Chapter, HarperCollins
Eighty-five-year-old Eudora Honeysett is inspired in part by my mum. She also lived through the Second World War and they share that ‘dig for victory’ resilience. The irrepressible Rose, who befriends a reluctant Eudora, is inspired by every ten-year-old I’ve ever known bringing sparkle and relentless curiosity about life, death and everything in between! Their adventures with the recently-widowed Stanley help Eudora to reconsider this ‘noisy, moronic world’ and come to terms with her past.
Christmas For Beginners –CaroleMatthews
Sphere, Little, Brown
I won a short story competition in Writing magazine and did the most sensible thing I’ve ever done. I spent the prize money on a writing course. The tutor told me that my work-in-progress was good enough to send to an agent. He took me on straight away and sold the book within a week which became Let’s Meet on Platform 8. I never imagined that it would launch a career that would last twenty-four years and see me write thirty-four books.
The Little Shop in Cornwall –HelenPollard
Bookouture
I always want my books to provide an escape from everyday life for my readers, transporting them to somewhere special. Since I love creating fictitious places set within a real region, what could be more fun than to dream up my very own pretty coastal Cornish village for The Little Shop in Cornwall? Beach, harbour, wooded cliffs, fishermen’s cottages… Perfect. As I was writing, I would sometimes forget that Porthsteren only exists in my imagination!
Mix Tape –JaneSanderson
Bantam Press
I’ve always listened to and loved music, but the idea for this novel actually arrived in a eureka moment; a waking thought one morning, that I should write a novel which harnessed and celebrated the power of song to speak to the heart. A girl and a boy lost to each other, then finding their way back, through music – that was the central premise, and it was pure joy for me as a writer to capture those heady, heart-hammering emotions inspired by the perfect song.
The Spark –JulesWake
One More Chapter, HarperCollins
Normally my books are about couples who gradually fall in love over the course of a book. With this story I wanted to explore those lovely falling in love moments from the outset but of course if they fall in love straight away, there is no story. The Spark was born when I thought about what conflicts might spoil that early happiness and how the characters will overcome them.
The winner will be announced on the 8th March 2021.
Please feel free to leave a comment or like the post.
You grew up in Massachusetts, moved to the UK and now commute between London and Cornwall. Did you ever think that you would travel so broadly?
I grew up with an inbuilt wanderlust. My father had travelled a fair bit and I would spend hours looking at his slides and dreaming of a time when I too could venture forth. I hadn’t quite imagined that I would lead the travelling life I did for so long. I moved to the UK when I was 26 and that was when it truly began. I met the man who is now my husband of almost 28 years two weeks after I arrived in the UK. We married two years later and that was when moving about began in earnest. We’ve lived in Canada, Moscow, Houston, Indonesia and Dubai. While in those locations we explored as much as was feasible with three small children in tow. But of course there is still more travelling I want to do!
The variety of cross-cultural experience that this life-style has given you is amazing, but the love of Cornwall shines through each of the books you have set there. When did this love affair begin?
It began with my first trip there one hot weekend in June 1989. My boyfriend of just a few months took me to meet his parents…or so I thought. It was in fact the ‘Cornwall Test’. If I hadn’t fallen in love with Cornwall then we wouldn’t have married. I’m certain of it. But how could I not fall in love with bright blue skies punctuated with foxgloves, cliffs falling into the sea and hidden creeks caressed by low tree branches. Cornwall stole my heart and has never let go…even when the sky feels low and the mizzle is so dense I can’t see the bottom of my garden.
Could you explain how and when your first breakthrough as a published writer happened?
My first breakthrough was finding an agent. I had met Carole Blake on line first via Twitter then in person through a TweetUp. We hit it off on a social level and became friends over our love of wine, shoes and books. I was still in the process of finding my writer’s voice. Finally two years after we became friends I knew what my voice was and what I was aiming for. This coincided with me attending the first York Festival of Writing. There I was to pitch to someone else in her agency. I knew this person wasn’t the right agent for me but I also knew the book wasn’t ready…so it was more for the feedback. During our session he asked me why I hadn’t pitched to Carole…fear was the first thing in my mind. She was Carole Blake but in my heart I knew The Cornish House wasn’t what it could be. So I emailed her…knowing her colleague would feed info back to her, saying the book wasn’t ready but I was aiming for Daphne du Maurier meets Jodi Picoult or Cornwall with issues. She told me to send it to her when it was ready. That was April and in February I sent The Cornish House off to four agents, all who I had met through the Romantic Novelists’ Association. By lunch time I had my first request for a full…but I hadn’t heard from Carole. So I emailed her asking as a friend what should I do because her book From Pitch to Publication didn’t say. She emailed saying as a friend you inform the other agents. Three requested the full and by Saturday Carole had offered me representation. By St Patrick’s Day I had my first publishing deal with The Netherlands and in April I signed with Orion. That was the beginning.
Of all the impeccable research you have completed, is there one project that has intrigued or surprised you more than you expected?
I loved researching The Returning Tide. I was terrified as growing up in the States the knowledge that people in the UK have is different and I was terrified of getting it wrong…I lost sleep over it. But I love research and my favourite part of the research for this book was interviewing four people who served during WWII. One of them lent me her diary from 1945 and I was able to see first hand how little everyone knew. This was my biggest struggle in the end. Today if a bomb falls we know minutes later. Then they knew only their part and nothing more….
You are a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association – what does the organisation mean to you?
The RNA is my tribe. I learned so much there during my pre-published days, my apprenticeship. The published novelists were and are so generous with their knowledge. I know that this cut my time waiting for publication. I also know they have my back as I have theirs.
What was the most important piece of advice that you were given that you would like to pass on to as yet unpublished writers?
Don’t rush to publication. I wish I knew who gave me the advice but I am grateful. I would add to it take that time to learn about the industry…because once you are published it all becomes harder!
Each author has their own favoured way of working – would you share yours with us?
Ideally the idea for the story will have been in my head for a year or more. It will slowly build and then I will brain storm with my editor…I love this part. If research is required I will then do the minimum – just enough to write a fast and dirty first draft. This I learned the hard way. I love research and for A Cornish Stranger I thought the historical thread of the story would be about the SOE so I read extensively. I then wrote the story…it’s not about the SOE. So I wasted key time. Now I leave XXXX directly in the text to indicate that more is needed and fly on with the story. What I have discovered is in this more targeted research I have found things that enrich and twist the story…especially since by then I know my characters. Once I have the dirty first draft the real work begins. I write many drafts…not as many as I used to but by the time I send it to my editor this first time it will normally have been through four to six drafts. The final one of these edits will be having my computer read the story to me. Believe me you can’t hide from a clunky sentence, missed word or lack of transition when there is no emotion in the reading voice.
I used to dread the editing process but now I embrace it. With my editor’s input and my own (obtained from stepping back from the book for even as short as two weeks) I can see how to make the story better, stronger and more emotionally charged. So I will normally have two to three rounds of edits with editor then there is the copy edit (hate this bit…when I’m forced to look at the small stuff) and the final proof reading edit is always a bit lost on me…I can’t see a spelling mistake for love nor money. I’m dyslexic.
You are an inspiration to many as you have dyslexia. How much of a challenge has it been to write your lovely novels and overcome the difficulties that this may have presented?
Dyslexia has presented many challenges along the road to writing my novels. Not being able to spell has created two problems one of which has become a blessing. I cannot see a spelling mistake so I need to have someone proof read and a very understanding editor. This is a nightmare. My dyslexia can be so bad sometimes that I can’t look it up in a dictionary or spell it enough for spell check to even offer a possible spelling. This is so frustrating. It has made me many times select a different word, a simpler word. And this has been the bonus. My writing is simple which has brought me many readers who struggle with reading. Unless it is a necessary technical word or the character absolutely would say the simple word the vocabulary used in the books is basic. This means the story can be read by a larger audience. I never thought that my struggles with dyslexia would help others to access stories, but it has.
I was fortunate enough to interview the amazing Carole Blake shortly before her tragically early death. How much of an influence did Carole have on your career?
She was the ideal guide through my first years as a published author. Despite my time pre-published learning as much as I could there is so much to take on board and understand. She answered every question, went to battle for me, reprimanded me if I took a wrong step and laughed with me. She taught me to enjoy every step of the journey, toast every success no matter how small and not to sell myself or my work short. With each and every book she had to sell it back to me because I hated it by the time all the editing was done! She excelled at selling.
Do you embrace technology and social media with enthusiasm?
Yes! As I mentioned earlier it was through Twitter that Carole and I became friends. I also love interacting with readers through the various platforms. It is also where I interact with other writers…making the work process less lonely.
What has been the highlight of your writing career to date?
There are two…the first was when a reader stayed behind at a talk and told me how a story I’d written had helped her. I stood there in shock. I had never imagined reaching someone so deeply. And the second was when The Returning Tide made the short list for the Winston Graham Historical Novel Prize.
What project are you working on now?
I’m doing the preliminary research on a novel that is located on both sides of the Tamar (yes leaving Cornwall briefly) and is set in WWI and the current day. More sleepless nights hoping I don’t mess up the historical details!!
What is next for Liz Fenwick?
The Path to the Sea is out on 6 June 2019. It is a story of three generations of the Trewin women all with secrets. At Boskenna a large rambling house perched on a cliff above a Cornish beach on a hot August weekend in 2018 the past comes closer to the present. The youngest Trewin, Lottie, tries to keep her own secrets hidden as she searches for answers. But once she uncovers what happened in 1962 what is she going to do?
valerie holmes, author 